Brand Management Report: Brand Equity and Management Techniques

This report analyzes brand management, focusing on its importance as a marketing tool and its evolution in business. It explores key components of brand strategy, including target audience and digital marketing, and their role in building and managing brand equity. The report also details different strategies for portfolio management, brand hierarchy, and collaborative brand management at domestic and global levels. Furthermore, it evaluates techniques for measuring and managing brand value, using Monsoon Accessorize Ltd. as a case study, highlighting the significance of branding for recognition, business value, and customer acquisition. The report covers various aspects like brand pyramid and Aaker's Brand Equity Model, which contributes to the overall understanding of brand management in the current competitive market.

Brand Management
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Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 3
TASK 1........................................................................................................................................ 3
P1 Describe importance of branding as a marketing tool and its emergence in business
practice..................................................................................................................................... 3
P2 Key components of brand strategy which contributes in building and managing brand
equity........................................................................................................................................ 5
TASK 2........................................................................................................................................ 9
P3 Describe the different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand
equity management.................................................................................................................. 9
TASK 3...................................................................................................................................... 11
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a domestic
and global level...................................................................................................................... 11
TASK 4...................................................................................................................................... 14
P5 Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value using
specific organizational examples............................................................................................14
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................... 17
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INTRODUCTION
Brand management is the process of supervising the various activities of
advertising in order to promote the products or services of brand (Keller, Parameswaran
and Jacob, 2011). It involves planning and analysis the market trends and situations in
order to develop the brand image of the company. Branding involves product,
packaging, labeling, price and many other factors that how brand will be viewed in the
marketplace. Brand management is basically the function of marketing in which various
tools and techniques are used by the marketing department in order to increase the
brand value of products or services of company. The organization taken for this report is
Monsoon accessorize ltd. The company was established in year 1973 by Peter Simon.
The headquarters of company is in London, UK and is dealing in high street fashion and
clothing. The topics covered in the report are importance of branding, key components
of brand strategy, different strategies of portfolio management, brand management in
collaboration and partnership and different techniques for measuring and managing
brand value.
Monsoon Accessorize Ltd. retails in fashion clothing industry. The company
offers apparel, clothing and footwear, dresses, tops, knitwear, tunics and kaftans,
beachwear, dresses, trousers, skirts, blankets and coats, shoes and boots and women's
workwear. Storm Accessorize also provides assorted items, including youth dresses,
tops, pants, and shorts.
TASK 1
P1 Describe importance of branding as a marketing tool and its emergence in
business practice.
The brand is define as the symbol, design, term or any other feature which play
very crucial role in the company as it make the organization different from others in
terms of products and services. The word brand in context of organizations is used in
marketing department specially in marketing and advertising activities (Rosenbaum-
Elliott, Percy and Pervan, 2015). Brand management is the process of supervising the
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various activities of advertising in order to promote the products or services of brand.
Branding helps the company in differentiating itself from other competitors by a specific
name or slogan. It is one of the most important activity in order to make customer aware
about the products and services of company and to attract the potential customers. The
reason why it is important for the business unities as it is the only feature which can
make the company stand out in the marketplace. Moreover it becomes easy for
customers to recognize the products and services of company through symbols and
logos.
In context of Monsoon accessorize, the company is belonging to high street retail
industry dealing in fashionable accessories and clothing. They are operating in UK
market with more than 150 stores at prime locations. They are providing street style and
fashionable cloths to women and kid’s at affordable prices. The company is using
branding in form of company logo in order to differentiateitself from other business
unities. This has helped the company in segmenting its products according to needs
and taste of customers in different locations of UK and also helped in increasing the
sales and profit volume. Moreover branding also contributes in improving the
satisfaction of its employees as working with known and branded company helps in
enhancing their career objectives. Hence, they work most effectively and efficiently in
order to provide better results to company and take pride in their job roles.
Importance of branding
Branding is important as it has its impact on the overall performance and goodwill
of the company (Hanna and Rowley, 2011). Branding can change the perceptive of
people regarding the products and services of company and lead to drive new sales and
increase brand awareness.
 Recognition- Through branding company get recognition in the marketplace and
customer comes to know about the products and services of the organization.
Basically branding is the face of the business unities.
 Increases value of business- Branding is important for those business who
want to do well in the coming future and increases the value of business.
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 Helps in generating new customers- Strong branding helps in creating positive
impression on the customers where they come to know about the companies and
its products and services. Thus helps in generating new potential customers and
increases the profit of company.
The concept of branding has taken place and is quite important in current scenario for
all the business unities. This concept has evolved because of the high level of
competition in the marketplace where many businesses are dealing in same products
and services such as hospitality sector, courier services, clothing industry and many
more. So this has created the need for brand name in order to stand out or make
themselves different from other business unities. Moreover branding become popular
with the use of mass media as earlier the companies need to invest a huge amount in
the promotional activities. The use of mass media has made things simple and cost
effective for the companies to carry out promotional activities. With the emergence of
social media it become easy for small business to carry out promotional activities (Jin,
2012). As people are spending their most of time on various social media platforms, so
for every business unities whether it be a small or large scale business to conduct their
marketing campaigns and make people aware about their existence. With the help of
various social media channels such as snapchat, you-tube, instagram, facebook, etc
companies can reach to people across the globe.
The practice of branding has taken place in the business practices of the
organizations as the motive of large scale companies is to expand their business in
different areas across the globe. Moreover in order to relay with the industries the
companies need to come out of their comfort zone and traditional ways of marketing
and should focus on new innovate and technology base methods. Branding is the
cost effective and time saving techniques which provides effective results to
business organizations. Hence from the above concept it can been said that
branding has become an important element in the operations of business as it helps
in making people aware about the products and services, generate new customers,
build trust among the customers and builds good image of company in marketplace.
Brand pyramid
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Brand pyramid is a representative framework which helps the business
organization in carrying its operations in most effective manner in order to maintain its
position in the marketplace. The elements covered in the pyramid are features and
attributes, functional benefits, emotional benefits, brand persona and brand essence. Its
important for the company to consider all the factors as it will help them in maintaining
its position in the marketplace and also help in providing the tough competition. The
level of competition is quite high in clothing and fashion industry.
P2 Key components of brand strategy which contributes in building and
managing brand equity.
Brand strategy is define as the process which focus on the long term success
and growth of the business where plans and strategies are been formulated after
analyzing market trends in order to attain the future goals of the company (Zenker and
Braun, 2010). Proper formulation of strategies and plans helps in influencing various
aspects of the business and contributes in customer satisfaction that is company is able
to meet the needs and desires of its customers. Moreover company need to come up
with the most effective and efficient brand strategies in order to make itself different
from other competitors and stand out in marketplace. Thus effective brand strategy
helps in gaining the trust of customers and converting them into loyal ones by
establishing strong relation with customers. Whereas brand equity is define as worth
which customer drives with the products and services of the company. Basically brand
equity is the value which is determined with the response of customers that is how’s
their experience with the company, are they satisfy with their services and what’s their
perceptive about the company. The key components of brand strategy which helps in
building and managing the brand equity are as follow-
Target Audience- Target audience refer to those people who company are
targeting that is to whom they want to sell their products and services. Basically they are
those customers who are most likely to purchase the goods and services of the
company. In context of Monsoon, they are targeting women in the age group of 20-45
and the kid’s in the age group of 1-15. The company has focus on the current market
trends and conditions and accordingly formulated various strategies which has helped
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them in gaining the trust of its targeted customers. Hence, it is important for business
organization to develop effective business strategies which help in accruing new
potential customers and also help in retaining the old and existing customers. In order to
get desire results it’s important for company to closely observe the customers and
understand their purchase behavior and other factors which contributes in influencing
them to buy the products and services. As this provide grate support at the time of
development of strategies. Thus, target audience is one of the important factor for the
business organizations in brand strategy and act as key component.
Digital Marketing- It is the component of the marketing where internet and other
online technology is been used by the company in order to carry out its promotional
activities. Digital marketing is one of the popular method used by company in order to
enhance the brand strategy and increase the productivity level with the motive of
increasing the sales and profit volume (Phan, Thomas and Heine, 2011). In context of
Monsoon, they have able to build strong presence on various digital platform such as
facebook, you-tube, instagram and many more where they are putting fresh context and
latest trendy cloths to attract customers. Moreover this practice is contributing in making
customer aware about the products of company and engaging them which helped in
increasing the sales of the company.
Social media- With the advancement and development in technology the
emergence of social media has provided great opportunity to business organizations to
enhance their business. People are spending their free time on various social media
platforms hence, it is one of the most valuable tool for the companies to carry out its
promotional activities and make people aware. It is one of most engaging platform
where company can engage its potential customers and can increase its sales volume
(Veloutsou and Guzman, 2017). Moreover by using various social media channels
company can expand its business and can enhance its productivity.
Public Relations- Public relation is also one of the most important factor as it
has ability to build or can negatively impact the brand reputation of the company. The
company must have proper and clear understanding of the its target audience in order
to build the effective relation with them. The company should properly arrange its
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product and services and segment them clearly in order to develop strategy according
the needs and interest of its target customers. Thus, the public relations and the brand
strategy functions together and is use to engage the customer and develop interest in
customers to purchase the products and services of the company.
Figure 1 Brand equity 2020
Role of marketing in building brand equity and brand positions and techniques-
Aaker Brand: Aaker brand equity model is been introduced by David Aaker where focus
was on brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand associations which is been combined
in order to provide value to customers by the range of company’s product or services.
The focus is on product,organization, person and symbol in order make the products
and services of the organization known and formulate the brand image of the company.
In context of Monsoon accessorize ltd the company (strength) is focusing on all the
factors in order to attract the customers and to engage them.
Keller’s CBBE model- This model helps in identifying the needs and preferences of
customers as with the revolution customers has become the main focus of the
companies. It is basically a pyramid which is been used by monsoon accessorize ltd as
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it provide guidance regarding building brand equity (strength) by identifying and
understanding the needs of the customers.
Reinforce and Revitalise brands through innovation- Monsoon accessorize ltd is
taking steps to increase its sales volume with the help of reinforcement and
revitalization of brand. By focusing on the need of customers and the current trend in
the marketplace they would able to come up with new range of designer cloths in order
to attract and engage customers. By bringing organic cloths in different styles they
would able to attract the high income group people.
Overcoming brand crisis:
1. Interacting with customers: Brand crisis can be overcome by the company by
interacting with customers; making good relationship with them, and solving their
queries.
2. Brand portfolio strategies: Brand portfolio strategy and architecture are key
components of a fruitful branding approach. These are impressive points, deeply
updated, with whole books explained about them. Unlike many different parts of the
brand’s approach, most of the crucial assumptions and constructions of this topic are as
relevant today as they were at the stage they first developed.
At its core, brand portfolio strategy guides how many brands should be in an
organization’s portfolio and how to place those brands within the company and explore
them. . Similarly, it offers an easy way to grow a business by creating the necessary
jobs for each brand, including what each one should contribute to the organization.
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TASK 2
P3 Describe the different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and
brand equity management.
Portfolio management is term as the process in which decisions are taken by the
management of the company regarding various policies and areas where they should
made investment (Braun and Zenker, 2010). Here are some strategies of portfolio
management-
Passive Management- This strategy of portfolio management is meant for those
investors who are ready to accept the returns in the marketplace where passive
management is used for tracking the market portfolios. In context of Monsoon, they can
use this strategy as they can track the performance of its external index. The main
motive behind adopting this strategy is to generate and get the return according to the
index of the company. This will helps in providing get support to the company as it will
be able to achieve its desire goals.
Active management- This is the kind of portfolio management in which investors
play major role as they try to fulfill the objective by asset allocation process of
investment. The investors who belong to the active management focus on different
trends of the market and the changing conditions in the economy which will affect the
functions and operations of the company. The main motive behind choosing this
strategy is to provide better outcomes to the organization in comparison to passive
management. With the adoption of this strategy frequent changes take place in the
operations and the strategies of business operations according to the changes and
prevailing situation in the marketplace.
Value Investment- It is a type of portfolio management where investors buy the
stocks of the company which are trending at less value than its actual value. The value
investors generally consider and buy those stock which are at low value and are
underestimated in the marketplace (Iglesias and Bonet, 2012). For analyzing the market
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value the investors use financial analysis technique and become the long term investors
of the reputed companies.
Brand hierarchy is define as the business approach where the overall branding
strategy is been analyses according to the various products and services of the
company. Its various strategies are describe below-
Corporate branding- It is define as the process in which various strategies are
been used by the company in order to promote its brand name in the marketplace. This
strategy helps in focusing on the most desirable segment in order to offer its products
and services. In context of Monsoon, they follow this strategy in its range of products. In
corporate branding various strategy is been adopted by the company on the bases of
the market situation as the preferences and taste of customer shifts frequently. So it
becomes important to function according to the present trend in order to get the desire
results.
Individual Branding- This strategy is used by those companies which has wide
range of products and services (Spence and Essoussi, 2010). Mainly special and
different products which are not linked with the existing range of product are given
name. Moreover with the use of individual branding company can create its brand
reputation in the marketplace quickly and provide effective results. Individual branding
provide effective results as with various name the company is been known by its
potential customers which helps in increasing the sales volume.
Brand Extension- This is most common strategy in which company uses the
name of brand in different way which is already popular and preferred by the people.
This strategy helps in identifying and evaluating the various opportunity options in
context of products of the company. Moreover it help in increasing and enhancing the
brand image of the company as they need to put less efforts in creating awareness
about the product and services because customer are already familiar with the name.
Brand equity management is defined as the process in which strategies and
decisions are taken by the company on the bases of the research study in order to
provide correct and accurate information to the company regarding market trends and
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conditions. The different strategy of brand equity management is communication,
awareness, coordination and many more. The primary motive of these strategies is
same that is to increase the brand equity of the company by formulating its efforts in
attracting new customers and retaining the old customers which will result in increasing
the overall productivity and sales of the company. Effective communication helps in
carrying the business operation in the correct way and in the right direction. If there is
improper communication then it will lead to misunderstanding and company need to
suffer. Creating awareness in the marketplace is important as there is high competition
in the marketplace. In order to stand out and to make the brand reputation in the
marketplace it’s important to make customer aware about the products and services of
the company. By adopting various marketing channels and campaigns company should
engage the potential customers and attract them. The company can get effective results
by working in coordination with each other as while working together they would be able
to perform better and can take better decisions. Brand equity and brand extension helps
in strengthening the company’s image and make its position strong in the
marketplace.As it provides the right direction which helps in increasing its brand
awareness and sales of the company. Moreover the focus is on reinforce and revitalize
brands through innovation as it helps in attracting the new potential customers and
provide the tough competition in the marketplace which also helps in increasing brand
value and sales of the company.
TASK 3
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a
domestic and global level.
It is important for organization to consider different techniques and approaches in order
to manage brand significantly and effectively (YAKOUBI, 2020). Brand can be described
as the mark, logo, name, and symbol and so on which is different from other company.
It is essential for organization to develop the image of brand as well as carry out
business practices in order to successfully and effectively manage brand in both
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